Head coach Hugo Broos has explained the late call-up of Orlando Pirates midfielder Sipho Mbule to the Bafana Bafana squad after his teammate Patrick Maswanganyi suffered an injury.
On Thursday last week, Broos named a final 23-man squad to face Lesotho and Nigeria in two FIFA World Cup qualifiers that have the potential to clear South Africa's path to the USA/Mexico/Canada showpiece.
The squad had been trimmed down from an initial 48-man squad. However, further changes had to be made with injuries proving to be a headache for the Belgian.
READ: Furious Cardoso hits out: Why must I win every game!?
Themba Zwane was the first to pull out after suffering an injury that will keep him out of action for around two months.
His replacement, Maswanganyi, had been named in the final 23-man squad, but has also had to be withdrawn due to an injury suffered during Pirates’ 3-0 win against Chippa United over the weekend.
This has seen Broos turn to Mbule, has not featured for Bafana Bafana since 2021.
'Master Chef', as he is popularly known, joined Bucs before the start of the season, and despite not being a regular starter, has shown glimpses of his quality and has been named in the national team’s last two preliminary squads.
"Why Sipho Mbule? I think everybody agrees that he’s a player with many qualities and I have to agree also that in the past years, we didn’t really see what we expected from a player like that," Broos told journalists during Bafana’s first day of training camp on Monday.
"But he is an experienced player and one of those players who can play in that position.
"You know already for more than a year, we have been looking for a replacement of Themba. We had 'Tito', but now Tito is also injured, so it was very difficult to find someone with those qualities.
READ | OFFICIAL: Chiefs unveil TENTH signing
"And I think with Mbule, we have the right player on the right position.
"But I have to tell you also that when he comes and he will be in training, I think that I will have a little chat with him and I exactly will tell him what we expect from him," explained the Belgian.
Bafana have Lesotho lying in wait at Dr. Petrus Molemela Stadium on Friday, before the big one against archrivals Nigeria next week Tuesday at the Free State Stadium, with both matches kicking off at 18:00.
Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images
